Marvel: The Journey

Val flew back to his mansion and entered it. He landed from the open top into the courtyard and waved his hand, causing the air behind him to sizzle, twist, and turn until the statues and the box containing the Celestial Seeds slowly revealed themselves.

He had learned this trick over the years of having his powers. The trick was to turn anything invisible, even himself.

How can he do that?

It's extremely simple. The human eye can't detect a significant portion of the electromagnetic spectrum like Infrared, X-ray, Gamma Rays, and others, except visible light, which it can detect naturally. To make the statues and the box look invisible to the human eye, he changed the visible light rays around it to any other light rays like X-rays or Gamma rays.

The same concept also applies to making himself invisible. He simply changed the visible light rays around him, and the people looking at him couldn't see him anymore.

Val made the boxes and the statues float in the air as he walked toward his basement, or he called it, Research Room. He walked down the stairs, and a metal door appeared before him. He put the password in, and it opened. He stepped inside the room with the stolen goods entering behind him.

Inside the room, the box floated toward the right corner, the side where there were a lot of machines and technology. The statues, however, floated to the left side of the room. Val placed both of them at their respective places and walked out of the room. He walked up the stairs and was about to step on the ground floor when he heard someone giggling and laughing.

The giggling made him smile as he thought, 'Nina...'

He quietly walked in the direction of her laughing and arrived at the garden outside.

And Val froze in place, his smile disappearing from his face.

His eyes stared at Nina, who was giggling and playing with a white wolf.

"Ooof!". The brown-haired girl with brown eyes, Nina, groaned and fell on the grass.

The white wolf jumped on her and started licking her face, causing her to laugh.

"Stop it, Wolfie!" Nina said and pushed the white wolf away.

However, the wolf was excited and jumped on her, pinning her to the ground.

"Ufff!" Nina gasped and said, "Wolfie, stop it!"

She tried to push the white wolf away, but he was too strong.

"Come on, Wolfie! Stop!" Nina said, and the white wolf stopped and stared at her.

She smiled, patted the wolf's head, and said, "You're a good wolfie, aren't you?"

* AWOO *

The white wolf happily howled and licked her face.

"Ahaha!" Nina laughed and said, "Okay, Okay! Enough!"

She got up from the ground and started walking while the white wolf ran after her happily.

At that moment, she turned her head, and her eyes met Val's. She smiled and shouted, "Uncle Val!"

She ran toward him while the white wolf was following her.

"Hi, Uncle Val!" She greeted him.

Val looked down at her and said, "Why are you with this animal?"

Nina frowned and pouted, "Hey, he's a good boy."

Val sighed and said, "That's not what I meant. He's a wild animal. Where did you find him?"

"I found him outside, and now, he's my best friend.", Nina answered.

"But, he's a wild animal, and-"

"He's not a wild animal." Nina interrupted him and said, "See? He's smart and well-behaved. And I can control him with my powers."

Val stared at the white wolf and asked, "But your powers haven't yet developed enough to control big animals. You can only control small ones like cats, sparrows, dogs, etc."

Nina grinned and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Val. I can totally control him. See."

She made the white wolf sit on his back and said, "Sit."

The white wolf obediently sat on the ground. Then, she ordered the wolf to write her name on the grass.

Val and Nina watched as the wolf used his paws to write 'Nina' on the ground.

"Tada!" Nina proudly announced and said, "I taught him all this."

"Hmmm..." Val was still unconvinced and asked, "What if you lose control? You aren't old enough to handle a big wolf-like him if he suddenly breaks out of your control one day."

Nina rolled her eyes and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Val. I'm strong enough. Watch."

Val narrowed his eyes and asked, "You are strong enough? You've never even fought before."

Nina raised her hand, and a transparent barrier formed around her. The barrier was very solid, and it had a hexagonal structure.

* SHOOM *

She glanced at Val and said, "See, this is the extent of my new strength."

Val's eyes widened in surprise, and thought, 'She can form a force field?!' 

His eyes immediately glowed golden, and he examined the barrier and thought, 'Hmm... a psionic barrier?'

His eyes turned normal, and he smiled at Nina and thought, 'My decision to save her and Magda was indeed the right one. Her growth potential is impressive. Of course! How could Magneto's daughter not be impressive?'

He said, "It looks very solid. Well done."

"I can also do this!" Nina grinned, and the transparent barrier shrunk until it became a pair of gauntlets.

"Woah!" Val was impressed and said, "You can transform the barrier?"

"Yup!" Nina replied, and she clenched her fists, causing the gauntlets to shine.

"I can also use these gauntlets to punch and fight!"

"Oh, really?" Val asked.

"Yeah!" Nina smiled and said, "Watch."

She extended her left hand and punched the air.

* WHOOSH *

* BANG *

A wave of energy emerged from her fist and hit the air, causing the air to explode.

"Whoa!" Val said with a broad smile on his face.

"See?" Nina grinned and asked, "Can I keep him?"

He patted her head and said, "Okay, okay. You win. He can stay."

"Yay!" Nina clapped and hugged the white wolf.

At that moment, Magda walked out of the mansion with a tray full of snacks and juice.

"There you are, Nina! I made some snacks. Come on, eat them."

"Okay, Mom!" Nina nodded and ran toward her while the wolf followed her.

Val looked at the two, and a small smile appeared.

Magda noticed Val and said, "Oh! Val? You're here?"

"Yes," He nodded, walked toward her, and asked, "How are you feeling here? Are you okay, or do you want something?"

Magda placed the tray on the small table beside her and replied, "No, there's no need to go overboard with the security. We're safe. It's so nice to live here with a garden. It's really a nice place. Thank you for taking us in."

Nina ate the snacks from the tray while giving some to the wolf, who also began eating.

Val nodded and said, "I'm happy you are comfortable living here."

"W-What about E-Erik?" Magda asked with a worried expression on her face.

At that exact moment, the Chrono in Val's pocket buzzed, and he took it out and read the message he received.

A smirk appeared, and he replied, "It seems like everything's going according to our plan."